President Trump on Wednesday predicted that Congress will ultimately pass healthcare legislation, a day after Senate leaders pulled the bill because it didn’t have enough support from GOP lawmakers.
“I think we’re going to get at least very close and I think we’re going to get it over the line,” Trump told reporters during a roundtable event on energy at the White House.
Trump, who invited all Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the legislation, said there “was a great, great feeling in that room yesterday.”
“We’ll see what happens, we’re working very hard, we have given ourselves a little bit more time to make it perfect,” Trump said. “That’s what we want to do.”
Trump on Tuesday repeated his line that “Obamacare is dying, it’s essentially dead.”
“I think this has a chance to be a great healthcare at a reasonable cost,” he said. “People can save a lot of money, we get rid of the mandates, we get rid of so much. We got rid of a lot of the taxes, all of the bad parts of Obamacare are gone, essentially it’s a repeal and replace.”
Asked by a reporter to describe what will happen to Medicaid in the bill, Trump only said: “This will be great for everybody. ”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after meeting with Trump on Tuesday he now expects the Senate to vote on healthcare legislation in “a couple weeks.”
“I think everybody around the table is interested in getting to yes,” McConnell said. “Interested in getting an outcome. Because we know the status quo is simply unacceptable, unsustainable and no action is just not an option.”
With all Democratic senators opposed to the legislation, McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes if he wants it to pass under budget reconciliation. But on Tuesday, a number of Republicans opposed the legislation, with some conservatives arguing it didn’t go far enough to repeal President Obama’s signature healthcare law.
McConnell wanted the Senate to pass legislation this week. But the efforts were harmed by the CBO projection that 22 million more people would become uninsured over a decade. It also projected that Medicaid enrollment would fall by 16 percent by 2026. The Trump White House has responded to the CBO reported by questioning its accuracy.
